Laguna de la Nava, Palencia Province and travelling to Santo Domingo de Silos, Burgos Province, Spain.

Continuing to make my way home via Santi's.

Ebird List for Observatorio de Corralillos, 2 Species.

Just before dawn at Observatorio de Corralillos.

I left the hotel at around 07:30 and headed to Laguna de la Nava again, as I was about to turn into Observatorio de Corralillos I started the day list with a ghostly Barn Owl (Lechuza Común / Tyto alba) which came up off a roadside fence post and headed off along the road.

A black shape moving through reeds from the blind at Observatorio del Prado.

It was still dark and the only other species recorded before I went to the other end of the reserve were several calling Carrion Crows (Corneja Negra / Corvus corone).

Some Snow on the road towards Santi's.

I reached the far car park and walked out to the Observatorio del Prado, it was now starting to get light and good numbers off Marsh Harriers (Aguilucho Lagunero Occidental / Circus aeruginosus) were leaving there reed bed roost along with at least 3 female and 2 male Hen Harriers (Aguilucho Pálido / Circus cyaneus) and some Red Kite (Milano Real / Milvus milvus).

Griffon Vulture (Bultre Leonado / Gyps fulvus).

As I scanned the area from behind the blind I added White Stork (Ciguena Blanca / Ciconia ciconia), Cetti's Warbler (Ruisenor Bastardo / Cettia cetti), Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs), Common Chiffchaff (Mosquitero Común / Phylloscopus collybita), Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus), Robin (Petirrojo Europeo / Erithacus rubecula), Common Stonechat (Tarabilla Común / Saxicola torquata), Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor), White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba), Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), Great Cormorant (Cormorán Grande / Phalacrocroax carbo), Green Sandpiper (Andarrios Grande / Tringa ochropus), Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea), Great Egret (Garceta Grande / Egretta alba), Greylag Geese (Ansar Común / Anser anser), Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Common Pochard (Porrón Común / Aythya ferina), Eurasian Teal (Cerceta Común / Anas crecca), Eurasian Wigeon (Sibón Europeo / Anas penelope), Northern Pintail (Ánade Rabudo / Anas acuta) and Northern Shoveler (Pato Cuchara / Anas clypeata).

Roe Deer (Corzo / Capreolus capreolus).

It was dam cold so I decided to head off to Santi's a little earlier than planned but I made a couple of stops on the road between Lerma and Santo Domingo de Silos adding Roe Deer (Corzo / Capreolus capreolus), Wren (Chochin / Troglodytes troglodytes), Song Thrush (Zorzal Común / Turdus philomelos), Serin (Verdecillo / Serinus serinus), Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala), Great Tit (Carbonera Común / Parus major) and Griffon Vulture (Bultre Leonado / Gyps fulvus).

Roe Deer (Corzo / Capreolus capreolus) think I have been spotted.

I arrived at Santi's and we had a nice lunch before settling down for the day in the warm, watching the snow out side.

Roe Deer (Corzo / Capreolus capreolus) defiantly been made.

La Bañeza, Villacid de Campos, Laguna de la Nava, Laguna Boada de Campos in Castilla y León, Spain.

Heading back East towards Home, stage One.

Ebird List for La Bañeza, 1 Species.

Ebird List for Villacid de Campos, 8 Species.

Ebird List for Laguna de la Nava, 27 Species.

Ebird List for Laguna Boada de Campos, 20 Species. 

Year Total 114.

Rooks (Graja / Corvus frugilegus).

I left the hotel in A Coruña at around 07:20 and headed to the town of La Bañeza as I had seen on Ebird that there was a cluster of hot spots for Rook (Graja / Corvus frugilegus) in the area.

Rooks (Graja / Corvus frugilegus).

Rook (Graja / Corvus frugilegus).

Rooks (Graja / Corvus frugilegus).

On the way I saw Red Kite (Milano Real / Milvus milvus), Marsh Harrier (Aguilucho Lagunero Occidental / Circus aeruginosus), Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo), Raven (Cuervo / Corvus corax), Common Magpie (Urraca / Pica pica), Carrion Crow (Corneja Negra / Corvus corone), Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus), Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto), Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba) and House Sparrow (Gorrión Común / Passer domesticus).

Rook (Graja / Corvus frugilegus).

Rook (Graja / Corvus frugilegus).

I came off the motorway and dropped into the town and to the spot where the Pin was and was amazed to find Rooks everywhere, in the trees with their nests and in all the fields around the area as well, I put 150 on the Ebird list but there could easily have been between 200 and 300 birds in the whole area.

White Stork (Ciguena Blanca / Ciconia ciconia).

Anyway, I was very happy seeing this highly localised species in good numbers so I pressed on towards Laguna de Nava a spot I have visited several times before, on the way I passed through lots of agricultural areas and in one of these near to the town of Villacid de Campos i saw a group of 5 Stock Doves (Paloma Zurita / Columba oenas) fly over the road in front of me and land, unexpectedly there was a small pull off in the perfect spot so I spent a little while watching these difficult to get birds down south and also added Skylark (Alondra Común / Alauda arvensis), Corn Bunting (Triguero / Emberiza calandra) and Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros) to the day list.

Observatorio del Prado.

The View from Observatorio del Prado.

The View from Observatorio del Prado.

I continued on and arrived at the Laguna where I started the visit at Observatorio de Corralillos and worked around to Observatorio del Prado and Observatorio de La Colada, in general it was quieter than on my other visits but I did manage to find 3x Barnical Geese (Barnacla Cariblanca / Branta leucopsis) mixed in with the Greylags (Ansar Común / Anser anser), Eurasian Teal (Cerceta Común / Anas crecca), Eurasian Wigeon (Sibón Europeo / Anas penelope), Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Northern Pintail (Ánade Rabudo / Anas acuta),  Northern Shoveler (Pato Cuchara / Anas clypeata), Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra), Northern Lapwing (Avefria Europea / Vanellus vanellus), Green Sandpiper (Andarrios Grande / Tringa ochropus), Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea), Great Egret (Garceta Grande / Egretta alba), White Stork (Ciguena Blanca / Ciconia ciconia), 2x Hen (Aguilucho Pálido / Circus cyaneus) and lots more Marsh Harriers, Iberian Green Woodpecker (Pito Real / Picus sharpei), Common Chiffchaff (Mosquitero Común / Phylloscopus collybita), Blue Tit (Herrerillo Común / Parus caeruleus), Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros), Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula), Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Carduelis chloris) and Meadow Pipit (Bisbita Pratense / Anthus pratensis).

Blue Tit (Herrerillo Común / Parus caeruleus).

I headed for the hotel next as I was aware that its the Three Kings Parade in many towns tonight and I wanted to make sure I could get in OK later, once I had sorted the room I went down the road to Laguna Boada de Campos and walked out to the hide where there were a trio of Spanish birders from León doing a count, whilst there I picked up a few new species for my list and one, Golden Plover (Chorlito Dorado Europeo / Pluvialis apricaia) which they had missed, only 30 odd of them.

Laguna Boada de Campos.

Other new species included Common Crane (Grulla Común / Grus grus), Shelduck (Tarro Blanco / Tadoma tadorna), Common Pochard (Porrón Común / Aythya ferina), Gadwall (Anade Friso / Anas strepera), Crested Lark (Cogujada / Galerida cristata) and Linnet (Pardillo Común / Carduelis cannabina).

Laguna Boada de Campos.

Laguna Boada de Campos.

I returned to Laguna de la Nava but didn't add anything new to the list but did see that there were a good number of Geese in a field near the Laguna but they were to distant and it was starting to get dark so I couldn't pick out anything other than Greylags before I left. 

Avenida Fernando Suárez García, Paseo Ronda, Praia de Alba around A Coruña,

Picked up a couple of nice species before the rain and high winds finished the birding off for the day.

Ebird list for Avenida Fernando Suárez García, 10 Species.

Ebird List for Paseo Ronda, 4 Species.

Ebird List for Praia de Alba, 1 Species.

Praia de Riazor before light and just before the first band of rain arrived.

After hearing the heavy rain and wind over night I decided to change my plans for the day and instead of heading out to the West I stayed fairy local around the Western side of A Coruña and started by heading to Paseo Ronda on the side of Praia de Riazor where I was going to look for Purple Sandpipers (Correlimos Oscuro / Calidris maritima) which are regular on the rocks there.

The Rain arriving.

I arrived and parked and walked a few hundred meters back to a bar where I had some breakfast, I got back to the car just as it started to rain and when I say rain I mean rain, within a minute or two there was a good flow down the hill.

Purple Sandpiper (Correlimos Oscuro / Calidris maritima).

Purple Sandpiper (Correlimos Oscuro / Calidris maritima).

Purple Sandpiper (Correlimos Oscuro / Calidris maritima).

I decided to leave the Purps until later and went up the road to an Observatorio de aves but when I arrived I found it locked so I parked in a direction that allowed me to look out to sea with out the rain coming in through the window, I sat there for a while and recorded Black-headed (Gaviota Riedora / Larus ridibundus), Mediterranean (Gaviota Cabecinegra / Larus melanocephalus), Lesser Black-backed (Gaviota Sombria / Larus fuscus) and Yellow-legged Gull (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis), Sandwich Tern (Charrán Patinegro / Sterna sandvicensis), 28x Northern Gannet (Alcatraz Atlántico / Morus bassanus), Great Cormorant (Cormorán Grande / Phalacrocroax carbo), Shag (Cormorán Mondudo / Phalacrocorax aristotelis), Carrion Crow (Corneja Negra / Corvus corone) and Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros) before heading back to the rocks in Praia de Riazor as the rain had eased off.

Purple Sandpiper (Correlimos Oscuro / Calidris maritima).

Purple Sandpiper (Correlimos Oscuro / Calidris maritima).

Purple Sandpiper (Correlimos Oscuro / Calidris maritima).

I parked and walked down past Parque merendero, Solarium-Mirador to Rotonda de Las Esclavas where I found at least 28x Ruddy Turnstone (Vuelvepiedras Común / Arenaria interpres), 2x Purple Sandpiper (Correlimos Oscuro / Calidris maritima), Yellow-legged Gull and House Sparrows (Gorrión Común / Passer domesticus).

The Rocks where I found the second lot of Purps.

Torre de Hércules off on the next headland.

I walked back up to the car again as I didn't have the camera with me and I was going to walk back but thought I would check the rocks near the parking spot and soon found more Ruddy Turnstones and at least another 5 Purps which showed very nicely.

Torre de Hércules through the rain.

After getting some shots I headed further out west to Praia de Alba where I was hoping to find some Gulls, I arrived at the car park above the beach  but there were no Gulls there, I scanned the beach and could see a roosting flock off to the left hand end of the beach so I headed down there.

Common Gull (Gaviota Cana / Larus canus).

Common Gull (Gaviota Cana / Larus canus).

Common Gull (Gaviota Cana / Larus canus).

I parked and walked out checking the smaller gulls mainly as the larger immature ones still confuse the hell out of me and amongst the Black-headed and Med's I found a single Common Gull (Gaviota Cana / Larus canus) before starting to make my way back to the hotel as the weather took a turn for the worst.

Some of the larger Gulls.

Ría de Betanzos in Sada, Aldea Cornide in Bergondo, Ría de Betanzos in Sada again, Ría de Ferro in Praia de San Valentín and Encoro de Cecebre, Galicia, Spain.

First Spanish Lifer of the year but it was a bit of a struggle.

Ebird List for Ría de Betanzos in Sada, 20 Species.

Ebird List for Aldea Cornide in Bergondo, 9 Species.

EBird List for Ría de Betanzos in Sada, 2 Species.

Ebird List for Ría de Ferro in Praia de San Valentín, 18 Species.

Ebird list for Encoro de Cecebre, 22 Species.

Ebird List for Presa, 7 Species.

A quarter to Nine and it's just starting to get light at Sada.

I was on site at Ría de Betanzos in Sada way to early again but this time there were loads of places to get coffee so I loaded up on caffeine before heading out along the Prom whilst it was basically still dark at after 08:30, there were good numbers of Mallards (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos) and Northern Pintail (Ánade Rabudo / Anas acuta) as well as 4x Eurasian Wigeon (Sibón Europeo / Anas penelope) all feeding along the sea edge and in the weed that had been washed up.

Mediterranean Gull (Gaviota Cabecinegra / Larus melanocephalus).

Mediterranean Gull (Gaviota Cabecinegra / Larus melanocephalus).

Great Black-backed Gull (Gavión Atlántico / Larus marinus).

As it got lighter I watched 3x Dark-bellied Brent Geese (Barnacla Carinegra / Branta bernicla) paddle in and start to feed amongst the other duck species.

Lesser Black-backed Gull (Gaviota Sombria / Larus fuscus) adult.

Lesser Black-backed Gull (Gaviota Sombria / Larus fuscus) adult.

Yellow-legged Gull (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis).

Yellow-legged Gull (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis).

Other species seen included Black-headed (Gaviota Riedora / Larus ridibundus), Mediterranean (Gaviota Cabecinegra / Larus melanocephalus), Great Black-backed (Gavión Atlántico / Larus marinus), Lesser Black-backed (Gaviota Sombria / Larus fuscus) and Yellow-legged Gulls (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis), Sandwich Terns (Charrán Patinegro / Sterna sandvicensis), 30 odd Eurasian Oystercatchers (Ostrero Euroasiatico / Haematopus ostralegus), Ruddy Turnstone (Vuelvepiedras Común / Arenaria interpres), Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea), Cetti's Warbler (Ruisenor Bastardo / Cettia cetti) and lots of White Wagtails (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba) leaving a roost somewhere nearby.

Yellow-legged Gull (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis).

Yellow-legged Gull (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis).

I had walked up and down the sea front for around 2.5 hours and had not managed to find either the target American Black Duck (Ánade Sombrio / Anas rubripes) or the two Whooper Swans (Cisne Cantor / Cygnus Cygnus) regularly reported.

Sandwich Tern (Charrán Patinegro / Sterna sandvicensis).

Eurasian Oystercatcher (Ostrero Euroasiatico / Haematopus ostralegus).

Dark-bellied Brent Geese (Barnacla Carinegra / Branta bernicla).

As I was about to leave I bumped into another birder who said the Duck has sometimes been seen on the next beach to the West as well so I walked back towards the car having a last scan before I went and just as I was about to leave I picked up the two Whoopers, no Idea when they sneaked in from but they showed well and surfed a couple of wave but got pushed back out by one of the many walkers with there dogs off the leash.

Whooper Swans (Cisne Cantor / Cygnus Cygnus).

Whooper Swans (Cisne Cantor / Cygnus Cygnus).

Whooper Swans (Cisne Cantor / Cygnus Cygnus).

Whooper Swans (Cisne Cantor / Cygnus Cygnus).

After getting some pictures of the Swans I went to have a look at the other beach but there was no sign of the Duck but I did find a good flock of Common Scoters (Negrón Común / Melanitta nigra) before returning to the Ría de Betanzos where the tide had started to drop a tad and expose a small area of mud.

Sada Beach.

Mallards (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos) and the male American Black Duck (Ánade Sombrio / Anas rubripes).

American Black Duck (Ánade Sombrio / Anas rubripes).

American Black Duck (Ánade Sombrio / Anas rubripes).

American Black Duck (Ánade Sombrio / Anas rubripes).

As I walked back down again I saw all the same species and then just before I reached the outlet for the Rio I spotted the Target American Black Duck feeding on the thin strip of mud with several Mallards and other ducks, I spent quiet a while watching this bird and chatting with some interested passersby explaining that this quite plain looking bird was extremely rare here in Spain.

Ría de Ferro in Praia de San Valentín.

Dunlin (Correlimos Común / Calidris alpina).

Dunlin (Correlimos Común / Calidris alpina).

My next stop was up on the Ría de Ferro where in the past I had seen a Bonaparte's Gull (Gaviota de Bonaparte / Larus philadelphia) and as it was reported as being seen yesterday I thought I would give it a try but dipped, however I did add Great Crested Grebe (Somormujo Lavanco / Podiceps cristatus), Dunlin (Correlimos Común / Calidris alpina), Common Sandpiper (Andarrios Chico / Actitis hypoleucos) and Ringed Plover (Chorlitejo Grande / Charadrius hiaticula) to the list before I decided to head for the Encoro de Cecebre a large reservoir back towards A Coruña.

Little Egret (Garceta Común / Egreeta garzetta).

Little Egret (Garceta Común / Egreeta garzetta).

Ringed Black-headed Gull (Gaviota Riedora / Larus ridibundus) TW7X I think but it was a long way off.

I parked by the hide / Observatorio de aves de Crendes and scanned the water and surroundings finding 2x Egyptian Geese (Ganso del Nilo / Alopochen aegyptiaca), 20 odd Tufted Duck (Porrón Monudo / Aythya fuligula), 18x Eurasian Spoonbill (Espátula Común / Platalea leucorodia), Little Grebe (Zampullín Común / Tachybaptus ruficollis), 4x Great Egret (Garceta Grande / Egretta alba), Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo), Great Spotted Woodpecker (Pico Picapinos / Dendrocopos major), Jay (Arrendajo / Garrulus glandarius), Great (Carbonera Común / Parus major), Blue (Herrerillo Común / Parus caeruleus) and Long-tailed Tit (Mito / Aegithalos caudatus), Common Chiffchaff (Mosquitero Común / Phylloscopus collybita), Firecrest (Reyezuelo Listado / Regulus ignicapillus), Wren (Chochin / Troglodytes troglodytes), Serin (Verdecillo / Serinus serinus) and Common Stonechat (Tarabilla Común / Saxicola torquata).

Egyptian Geese (Ganso del Nilo / Alopochen aegyptiaca).

A skulking Firecrest (Reyezuelo Listado / Regulus ignicapillus).

Whilst I was there a very nice Spanish lady birder turned up and gave me some info about the area, after we chatted she went for a walk around the lake and I went back around to the Dam and checked the area there adding Grey Wagtail (Lavandera Cascadena / Motacilla cinerea) and Coal Tit  (Carbonero Garrapinos / Parus ater) to my year list bringing it up to 97 at the end of day three.